Gabriel had a long and varied history of hiding out when things got tough; did that make him a coward? Probably. But there were things he refused to do, killing his Brothers? Yeah that was the big one.

Running from the whole damn universe? Yeah he knew how to get the fuck away.

So the last few years he'd been amusing himself by dropping folks into this multi universal conjunction point. He'd managed to set up a little joke shop, steer clear of the other gods and Demi gods that popped in every once in a while and on the whole put on blinders.

To bad for him he couldn't stop hearing the screaming.

Angels dying, Angels crying their Father, Angels proclaiming his little brother as the New God. Angels rebelling against the not god.

The Angels Falling.

And finally he couldn't stay away, when Metraon summoned him, bound him using the fragments of the Angel tablet he'd salvaged, controled his words to try and make Cassie surrender…

Yeah fun times.

He was pretty ok with that prick being dead.

After that he really had no choice but to start watching actively again, there was no way in hell he was getting his ass dragged back with warning again. Not unless it was actually Dad this time.

So when Cassie decided to make a break for it through time...well he reached out, tugging the weaker angel here, oh and making sure he landed right on top of his pet human.

The Splice was safer than where they had been at least.

He wasn't ready to go all Mark Twain on him yet...but that didn't mean he couldn't do a little recon work.

Carefully tucking his grace under the layers of protections he'd perfected over the millennia Gabriel walked seeming like nothing more than a regular man walking down the street behind his trenchcoatted little brother.

When Castiel turned to confront his stalker Gabriel would be gone; the whole street along with him. In its place was...Heaven.

Specifically Castiels favorite heaven.

The one littered with the bodies of angels he'd killed.

It wasn't Gabriel that stood beside him but Anna, the first Angelic blood on his hands.

Gabriel crafted the reality with care; to Castiels angelic eyes he would see Anna's grace decayed, rotten. The same visseral horror a human would feel when confronted by a zombie.

Castiel had yet to find a way back to his time period yet- and his motives for doing so were slowly slipping. He didn't age after all... Couldn't he just stay in the hub until the time that he left from came around? Surely he could only be better prepared if he had an extra two years to research what was happening? His reasoning sounded hollow even to him.

He had taken to wandering the hub whenever he or Dean needed to be alone- which usually just meant Dean was getting annoyed with the Shadow, or Cas left because he didn't want to know about what Dean was doing. Oh he usually knew who Dean was doing but that was already more than enough detail for the jealous angel. Being followed however was a new twist.

Cas wondered vaguely whether one of his new acquaintances had come to seek him out. With a deep breath to pull himself from his ridiculous melancholy he slowed to a stop before turning around abruptly. "Why are you-!" He began, before his mind processed what was in front of him- or rather who.

"Anna." He croaked, bile climbing up his throat. Castiel could hardly tear his eyes from the horror he saw in front of him to look at the horror that was now all around him. Without even truly thinking, he dropped his sword into his open palm to wield it.

Not managing to quite break his eye contact still, Castiel flipped the blade up and plunged it back down- through his own hand. Pulling it free, he glanced down to see his grace struggling to repair the hole, at which point he realized grimly that that combined with the pain must make this real.

Without even thinking about his actions he gave up his grip on his weapon and fell to his knees. He opened and closed his mouth, struggling for the words he needed to apologize- before closing his mouth as he realized there were no words. He picked the sword up, blade first, and offered her the hilt with his neck bowed.

Castiel had expected to die so many times, and so many had died so that he may live- so be it. If he died here then he wouldn't end up rabid when Dean needed him- and in fact he'd know that Dean didn't need him if the hunter of the last two years hadn't warned him. If anyone were to take his life. It seemed most fair that it be Anna.

Castiel may not have been able to muster an apology, but at least he could express something close. "I didn't know. What it was like. No one warns you about how painful humanity is. I had gotten lost in my own ego, I forgot how much stronger than me you had always been."

Anna’s empty eyes devoid of the spark of grace even fallen she'd once possessed stared at the silver blade that had killed so many of their brothers and sisters.

Her broken lips pulled into a twisted grimace of a smile, “Pain.” She didn't speak with her human mouth, no her voice was inside of him, speaking to him as only another Angel could. “That's all you learned about humanity?” She sounded almost curious tattered Grace drifting around them, her wings brushing against his.

“You forgot why I fell.”

Gabriel knew; he'd watched the star that was their sister drop to earth, reaching, searching for freedom to feel emotion. The forbidden.

Hell choice was half the reason he'd run when his brothers forced the war.

So was all Cassie had learned in the last few years pain? And his solution was...what to kill him self?

The scene shattered, Castiel dropped alone into infinite darkness; when he halted there were mirrors of him each with a different version.

Castiel felt the voice of his sister reverberate inside his head. The sister who had the courage to get all of the things he had ever wanted- before even he knew that he wanted them. He winced. Replying in kind he stared calmly up at her.

"I have learned much more than pain since your death- but I have not gained emotions from being human, they came from being with the Winchesters. So yes, the only truly new emotion I learned was a full understanding of pain."

He sighed at her comment. "I haven't. But it seems freedom has done few of our siblings anything good." Cas looked beseeching up at his sister. "Tell me Anna, do you regret it? Getting your grace back?"

Before the words had quite finished leaving his mind he found himself falling- already doubting the pain in his hand as real again. He landed with a gasp as the breath was knocked from him, and his body gave in to human responses.

He spun around wildly, trying to make sense of the area around him. Everything was him. Castiel didn't understand at first- but when his conversation with Anna returned to his mind despite the fall, he realized he was supposed to make a choice.

He glanced longingly at the versions of himself that had perfect wings- and even more so at the version of him that was human. He took a halting step towards that image before Castiel remembered himself. He had become an angel again... And he had done it for a reason.

Dean needed him, maybe now more than ever with the darkness freed- and Dean needed an angel. Not 'Castiel', simply a being with grace that stood on his side. He sighed at the thought and walked through the image of himself as he was- the other versions with grace were those that had made the choices that led here. Castiel would be a fool to make the same mistakes again.

"Are you happy now?" He asked aloud. "Or were you planning to use me as a toy for longer?" He growled.

Gabriel leaned on a support pillar, the pair of Angels now inhabiting an empty warehouse; “Wow Little Brother just...wow. GOD!” Gabe threw up his hands. “Dad really did make you to be the most masochistic lil angel didn't He?”

Gabe huffed out a loud breath pushing off the pillar; “Really? You get offered healing and your Grace back and choose to keep-” he waved a hand to encompass Castiels tattered state.

“Explain to me how that makes sense in a not - ‘spank me harder daddy’ way?”

Castiel tilted his head slightly at the sudden change in atmosphere before sighing in annoyance. This part he at least knew how to deal with. "Any hunter who has succeeded in more than one hunt can tell you that 'Easy' comes with strings." He said politely. "As you seem to know me, than you ought to know that I was a hunter of sorts for a while- and that my grace is my own, damaged or not."

He took a step towards the being posing as his brother and put his hand back on his angel blade- that he had returned to his coat. "Now, you who is wearing the face of Gabriel, who are you to ask such a question and expect an answer?" Without hesitation he dropped the blade back into his palm and extended his arm so the tip of the weapon rested just short of this man's throat.

"You are not the first to try such a trick- I would suggest doing your research if you intend to impersonate one of my siblings. Gabriel has been dead for a few years already."

“Really?” Gabriel reaches out, into the other angels Grace- “Cuz this here? Kinda looks like Sabriel.” His ‘fingers were twined around a faded strand of Grace, something that should have disappeared along with the other traces of stolen Grace. But Sab had always a been a clinger.

The blade to his throat earned Cas an eye roll. “Please.” He snorted, Jumped up lil Seraph or not even at full power Castiel was a long long way from an ArchAngel.

“Hunter?!” He scoffed rolling his eyes, “Cassie-” Gabe rubbed a hand over his face. “You're killing me here with the whole ‘I wanna be just like my crush and than he'll notice me!’ Teen drama.”

----------Next time on a very special episode of:

Angels of our lives

The voice over faded revealing Cas dressed in a floral print dress, seated next to him on the couch was Sam with a fake mustache. “Now Cassie. I know you've been through a lot of confusing changes. Letting strange elder gods into your Grace, sharing other Angels….Cas I want you to know that going through these changes is normal. But it's How we act while everything is out of wack that determines who we are gonna grow up to be.” Sam looks horribly uncomfortable as he pats Cas on the shoulder.

“You gotta be you not some copy of the apes-” Sam’s face twists as he's forced to say the word, eyes flicking to Gabe who's mouthing along with him, script pages in hand ‘directing’- “just to try and impress skinny mc biker jeans.”

The scene fades and Sam has time to get out a “what the hel-” before he vanishes with it.

------
“And what did we learn Cassie?” He didn't address the dead comment for...well because he didn't want to.

Castiel did nothing but glare at the comments from the being in front of him- right up until he found himself in a dress and forced to sit still and listen. He menaced his best glare at his brother- who he was now certain was his brother. No other was so... Was quite so much like Gabriel. He waited until he could move again and returned his blade to where he usually kept it.

He raised an eyebrow slightly in lieu of proper emotion- Now Castiel would pretend he hadn't been freaking out just a few moments ago. The seraph had absolutely no desire for any of the archangels to know about that- let alone the one most likely to take advantage of it. "I had my brain hacked- it wasn't much of a choice." He grumbled softly, still trying to work out how to greet his brother.

"It." He started before stopping for a moment and continuing. "It is good to see you well Gabriel, though I do not understand how you are." Castiel offered with a tiny nod of a bow- runaways or not, Gabriel was still an archangel, and Cas was still a seraph.

Gabe just gave his brother a ‘you aren't fooling anyone’ look through half lidded eyes. Because honestly he was really trying to trick a trickster?.

“Yeahhhh.” Gabe crossed his arms, expression twisted into a skeptical frown as he assessed his little brothers Grace. “Dad damn it Cassie. You've gotta stop hanging with the Winchesters. They aren't exactly teaching you the merits of self care.”

Castiel rolled his eyes in a move he had learned from the aforementioned Winchesters. "Please Gabriel- If you would like to take my place- tied to a chair- while Naomi drives spikes into your brain to reach your core programming- would you then believe me when I said I had my brain hacked?"

He paused for a moment when Gabriel spoke to him- it was hard for him to think about his ruined wings without pain. Cas winced when his brother's wings touched his grace, the feeling being both comforting and horrible against the burns. Castiel missed the feeling of being close to another angel- the ones of his future were less than pleased with him. He gave in to the feeling and took the last step forward to envelope his older brother in a tight hug for a moment.

Even if someone could fake his brother's personality (which he doubted) Castiel didn't believe anyone could fake the comfort he felt at that moment. Gabriel was an island of the familiar in a land where he knew no one and the person he was closest to couldn't understand the changes he had gone through in the last two years.

Castiel dropped his arms and stepped back. If it was Gabriel- The seraph pursed his lips for a moment to squash the strange hope that was building in Cas. "Could you really fix my wings? Without a price?" He asked quietly.

“Don't kid a kidder; kid.” Gabriel kinda loved that line he had to admit. “You've been bending over for the Winchesters since Michael sent you down to pick up his take out.” Which Gabriel did NOT approve of, Castiel had given everything, multiple times and for what? So that idiot could keep throwing his sacrifice back in his face? Every dumb ass thing Castiel had done since...well meeting Dean Winchester could be directly traced TO Dean Winchester and the ‘hero worship’ Castiel harbored for him.

Gabriel really looked at the tattered mess of Castiel; even if he fixed the wings, removed the curse...his Grace was still fucked six ways to Sunday and even short term that was going to be a problem.

Thing was Gabe probably COULD fix his Grace...but there would be a cost, he might in the top ten, maybe even top5 since the great God and Angel slaughter of 2010, most powerful beings but.

But he was still the weakest of the first born angels. And that kinda meant something in degrees of pure power at his command.

When he had been created Father had given him his calling; he was the Messenger. And his duty was to bring his words beyond those of the Metron.

The true being that was Gabriel opened his eyes, maybe he'd picked a strange way to do it, but in his heart Gabriel was still serving his primary purpose.

’You are a Mess Castiel

The informal phrasing warred with his full aspect, but hey it had been a fucking long ass time since he went full ‘fear not’.

Really it was baby angel goo if you wanted to think about it and Gabe was indeed amused and vaguely disturbed at his own thought process that he was basically in the middle of bukake his little brother-

Yeah ah well keepin’ it in the family right?

...damn it even he thought his sense of humor was messed up at times.

The Upshot(heh) was that when he was finished Castiel's wings were whole and his Grace was actually correctly supported, cleaned, and on its way to being healed and far far less painful.

“Eh. So you owe me.” He dismissed offhandedly, a candy bar appearing in his hand.

Castiel grunted at his brother- content to ignore anything the angel had to say regarding Dean Winchester. He had been informed- more times than he could count- that he was too close to the humans in his care. Their Almighty Father knew that he had been torn five entirely new directions from Sunday for that exact reason. Of course being the oddly rebellious angel Castiel apparently was- that usually only made him want to befriend the humans more.

And of course at some point he had fallen in love with Dean- which was. Unintentional. To say the least. Castiel knew better than to think there was hope there- but he also was capable of admitting it to himself. "Regardless of my feelings for Dean- When I was not under Naomi's control, I went on only one hunt. Which ended with the monster in question choosing me as it's next target." He offered softly. "I was even less inclined to join hunts after that."

He was so caught up in trying to think of any other examples- he had a long memory and it was easy to become lost in it- that it took a moment of the bright light before he recognized that his brother had transitioned into his true form. Castiel felt his mouth open slightly in awe. To see an archangel's true form- was nothing short of masterpiece. The most important part of humanity was their imperfections- but Gabriel, like his three elder brothers, was perfect.

Or. At least visually so- Cas thought to himself as his brother phrased things rather casually, allowing a small smile to replace his open mouth. One that became awestruck when he felt the cooling sensation against his grace and wings. The seraph didn't know what to think about the process- only that it felt like the moment when a human who has been slowly suffocating finds their lungs suddenly filled with clear, and fresh air. His grace felt a small instinctive pull to throw off the unfamiliar presence- that he resisted because he was perfectly capable of understanding the feeling of being healed.

He barely acknowledged the comment from Gabriel at first while he took the moment to flap his wings in sheer unfathomable pleasure. The feeling of having them whole again- was beyond belief. Off-handedly Castiel returned a remark. "And I thought I said without a price." Of course to see the black feathers perfect and uncharred was enough that he was almost overwhelmed with emotion. Castiel turned in a circle, chasing the view of his wings like a dog and their tail. He turned back to his brother and pulled him again into a tight hug.

"Of course I will pay you whatever I owe brother." The seraph said into Gabriel's ear- unconcerned that he was getting in the way of his brother's candy. "I can not begin to thank you." He said with a tiny laugh, forgetting entirely about Dean Winchester for the moment. "Whatever you need. Especially since I know that unless you plan on waiting at least two years you do nothing to our universe that wouldn't happen anyways." He said with a full smile, for the first time since his stint as a human.

Castiel glared at his brother. "It was one of the Rit Zien Gabriel." He offered quietly. That would tell the archangel plenty about the Seraph's emotions at the time- Castiel had become a target for an angel who existed to put people out of their misery, even if this one in particular had taken an unnecessary zeal to his job.

Castiel may have somehow acquired a flair for the dramatic- but his pity party was valid, considering he had reached the point of agony that an angel went to put him down rather than make him live through it. And that had been two years of dramatic events ago.

But on the topic of being healed- Castiel didn't care how much pain he had been in before- He could fly again- and that was in and of itself breathtakingly amazing. He loosed his grip shortly after his hug was returned- though he kept a grip on his brother's shoulder to steady him. Castiel could barely fathom the effort it would take to put his grace back together again, and Gabriel was not the strongest of his brothers. (For the best considering his penchant for mischief.) He raised an eyebrow at his brother- Castiel would have thought he would be capable of seeing the temporal ripples that surrounded the seraph. In fact he was quite certain Gabriel could see them.

"I am from then- and I know the causes of all major disturbances in the next two years. I am not certain how it was that I came to the hub as you clearly saw the state of my grace-" Castiel paused and gave a pointed look to his brother. "-it would have taken an angel with fully functional wings to go through time as easily as I did." The Seraph had forgotten about the difficulties required to fly through time without wings- something that should have occurred to him almost immediately upon arrival- though in his own defense, he thought the only angels who lived and had intact wings were in a cage in hell.

"Tell me Brother- truthfully. Are you the reason I have arrived in the Hub?" The Rebellious and Quiet Angel asked softly.

Castiel needed to watch the personal space..ok not really but he had to maintain appearances and- wait what? “Well that is their job Cassie.” both of Gabes eyebrows flew up at the admission, and when Cas put two and two together and actually got four...well-

Gabe popped the now lollipop into his mouth humming innocently...or as innocently as he could be bothered to look, which really was just a intentionally horrible parody of innocence. “Maaaaayyyybeeee.” He singsonged, “There’s a lot of Gods and elemental forces hanging around the cooler here. Who knows who does anything around here?” the lolipop made a circular waving motion.

“Really Cassie, you’re gonna go with the all knowing routine with ME of all people?” he intoned sarcastically. “Besides if it was me would I have grabbed only half the Winchester set? I know how antsy you get when you dont have your puppies to play with.”

Castiel gave his brother a look he had learned from Sam- one that very clearly said 'brother are you an idiot?' The other angel was in Cas's opinion being deliberately obtuse- something that was proven when his brother mentioned the job of a rit zien. "I was human at the time so no it was not his job."

Castiel sighed slightly at his brother's profession of 'innocence.' If he thought it would change the other man's actions even slightly, he would rather rapidly point out the flaws in that statement- including the fact that Gabriel had clearly kept up on the events of their home reality, and likely had done the same with his new home. Still Cas was relatively certain that the brother he knew would not change his mind simply from Cas making remarks so he stayed his tongue.

The other defense was more easy to poke holes in- which Cas happily did. "I asked if you brought me into the hub- I didn't suggest you had brought anyone else." He offered with a raised eyebrow as he finally gave up his grip on his brother entirely. "Are you trying to tell me something Gabriel?"

See here’s the deal, Gabe was happy as the Trickster, Loki was a fun mask to play in. And honestly the irreverent attitude suited his lack of shits given to a t!

Because really? Dad, Michel, Lucy...the whole shit show had driven the youngest Archangel away. And in classic ‘emotional kid that doesn’t want people to see him hurt’ Gabe had embraced the ‘does not give a fuck’ and ran with it.

The fact that he kept pulling Cassie’s tail out of the fire though proved he cared. Too much.

“You ever try barbecue honey waffles?” He asked shifting the topic with an self satisfied smirk. “Sounds horrific. But damn close to being back Home.”

Gabe whistled sauntering out of the warehouse; “common Cassie!” The lollipop flicked twice in his direction. “Let’s see the sights.”

Castiel waited patiently for an answer from his brother- something that he did for surprisingly few of them nowadays. Actually it was pretty much just Gabriel. The only others of his older brothers that were alive included satan- and an archangel Cas had thrown a holy Molotov at. He was in no hurry to wait for either of them to do what they wanted- Gabriel was comparatively harmless.

Of course his fondness for his brother did nothing to stop the sigh that issued from his mouth when his brother promptly changed the topic. Was it expected? Yes. Was it annoying? Also yes. "That's not an answer Gabriel." He offered as he turned to follow his brother. Castiel had no illusions about his ability to stop his brother and acquire an answer- but he was admittedly very happy to see Gabriel.

It wasn't Cas had anything more important to be doing at the current moment. Still he sighed again with the realization he was probably doomed to be eating honey barbecue waffles. For some reason. "Alright brother." He offered as he followed.